1. Field of the Invention
The field of art to which the invention pertains includes the field of blood sample systems, and more particularly, to a blood sample/fluid system for easily identifying a tube containing both the blood sample and any by-product produced from said blood sample.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional laboratories that process blood samples wherein serum or plasma is separated after centrifugation, the processed serum or plasma (fluid portion) is transferred from the original container containing the blood samples to a second container containing the fluid portion. When this occurs in the laboratory, the labeling of the fluid portion must be duplicated on the second container. Often confusion in the laboratory occurs as large quantities of blood samples are processed. In U.S. Pat. 3,807,955, the original blood sample is taken and placed into a sample tube. The processed blood sample containing the fluid portion is then transferred into an isolator cup positioned within the blood sample tube. The labeling of the sample tube is sufficient to identify the fluid portion as long as it remains in the isolator cup with the isolator cup positioned in the sample tube. However, should it be necessary to remove the isolator cup from the sample tube, a new identification of the isolator cup must be provided.
Other fluid sampling devices include U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,941; 4,242,478; 4,841,818; 3,924,741; 4,956,298; 2,587,221; and 4,973,450.